February 2011

Volcano Boarding Crew

Video: Volcano Boarding at Cerro Negro

A guy I had met through Couchsurfing.com told me he planned to rent a truck and take some of his neighbors to Cerro Negro. He has been living here in Leon for four or five months, and many of the kids in his neighborhood, who have been living here their entire lives, had never gotten a chance to go volcano boarding because it was too expensive. I had already been last weekend during my full moon volcano hike, but it

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Leon Veijo

UNESCO World Heritage Site #6 – Leon Viejo

Leon Viejo is my 6th UNESCO World Heritage Site visited since the start of this website. It is also the only UNESCO site in all of Nicaragua (which is crazy to me with Granada, the oldest colonial city in Central America located just to the south). Leon Viejo was one of the first Spanish settlements in the new world, and it did not develop much past the initial settlement stages leaving behind a storied past of the Spanish encounters with

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El Hoyo at 5am

Full Moon Volcano Hike – 22 Kilometers on No Sleep

At 9pm my two friends and I arrived at the office of the Volcano Trekking Company. We had signed up for a Full Moon Volcano Hike that would take us up portions of three different volcanoes, and would allow us to watch the sunrise over a fourth volcano. As usual, I hadn’t really done too much research beyond the casual “So is this hike pretty cool? Can I get some cool photos? Yeah? Ok, I’m in.” As the group of

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Esteli Waterfall

Photo – Waterfall near Esteli

Just outside of the city of Esteli, Nicaragua lies this 36 meter waterfall in an area known as Salto. There is public transport to the area as well as a 5km hiking trail. The waterfall itself is pretty impressive but the pool and cliffs created by the fall is what really makes this a great place to visit. There were people picnicking but my friends and I had the fall to ourselves for most of our visit. It also looked

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Alberto the Hermit

Hitchhiking on a Horse to Visit a Hermit

click photos to enlarge There was only one more bus going up the mountain for the day. It wouldn’t be returning in time for me to catch my 3 pm bus out of town. I had two options; miss one of the most talked about “attractions” of Esteli, Nicaragua, or attempt to find some other way to get up the mountain. I chose the latter, and at 10 am, merely five hours before my bus, I began my trip to

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Somoto Canyon

Photos – Swimming Through Somoto Canyon

During my time in Esteli, Nicaragua I took a day trip to the town of Somoto, which is known for it’s famous six-kilometer canyon. Tourists and locals alike can take trips down the canyon where you must hike and swim (with a life vest) to make it through. Here are a few shots from my trek through Somoto Canyon, and, as always, you can click the photos to enlarge them. Many parts of the canyon only require you to wade

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El Salvador Flag

11 Facts About El Salvador

A couple of days ago I left the beautiful country of El Salvador, so I wanted to publish another edition of “Interesting Facts…” El Salvador is one of the most interesting countries I have visited. Part of the reason I’ve found it so intriguing is because of all the misconceptions about the country, and then the other part is that I’ve been able to stay with many locals (via couchsurfing) and learn more about El Salvador than I’ve been able

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Laguna de Alegria

The Super Bowl in Spanish

I’m currently in the small town of Alegria, El Salvador. It is my last stop in El Salvador before heading to Nicaragua and it’s famous for its nearby thermal lagoon (pictured above) and the fact that it is the highest city in El Salvador. It is, however, not famous for its sports bars, or should I say sports bar. To be totally honest, when I arrived in Alegria my first thought was that I was going to be doing quite

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La Libertad Fishing Pier

Photo: Fishing Pier at Midday

click photo to enlarge I’ve been in La Libertad, El Salvador the past 4 days. I moved here mainly for the solid internet connection as I had to hunker down and get some work down for my friend (I work for his online company). I have definitely enjoyed myself though, and have been able to go out and snag a few photos of the area as well as lay around in the sun quite a bit. La Libertad is a

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El Tunco, El Salvador

Losing Track of Time – El Tunco, El Salvador

click photo to enlarge “Hey, do any of you guys have the time, I’ve got to call a friend of mine on their lunch break” I looked back at two twenty something year old girls staring towards my table waiting for our reply. We all looked at each other, “Does anyone have their phone or watch?” I asked. No one did. I turned to the next two tables over, “Hey, do any of you know what time it is?” After

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